


Let’s Play Hide and Seek.

by JediJewels25



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Amnesia, Gen, Homra boys swear, Homra is protective, Kōsuke adopts another stray, Mikoto pretends he doesn’t care but does, Mild Language, Original Character(s), Surprise pregnancy, Yata is a softy, begrudgingly getting attached, lovable dorks, red clan is full of sweethearts, set outside the main story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23370121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediJewels25/pseuds/JediJewels25
Summary: Homra finds a little ghost. She’s all blank inside. They take her in, keep her warm, and start to get attached. She doesn’t have a name but that doesn’t matter. First she snuck into their home, then she snuck into their hearts. Soon even the coldest among them become protective, especially when they find out something unexpected about her.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 39





	1. Blank Slate

**Author's Note:**

> I love the show K and with the world being a mess wanted to write something sweet and sappy. This first chapter isn’t that much but trust me its going there. Hope you enjoy.

Her body folded in half, lungs burning. Her eyes watered. She continued to cough with no reprise. She heard the door open above her incessant coughing that was beginning choking her.

“Why have you stopped?” A male voice demanded. 

“Blood test came back positive.” A female voice responded. “She’s pregnant. We can’t continue testing.” 

There was a sigh, “That’s disappointing. We were making a bit of progress. Oh well.Wipe and dump her, and acquire a new subject.” 

She tried to look up, already tired from the rattling in her chest. Her knees gave out. The fog consumed her head.

***************

She woke shivering. By some dumpsters on some discarded cardboard. She was damp, her clothes and hair clung to her frame that heightened the chill in the air. A thin jacket, cheep drawstring pants, and non-descriptive shoes. Her head felt like it was in syrup. She pushed up to sitting, feeling black grime smear on her hands. Desire for warmth was the first clear thought. It propelled her to stand and leave. 

The grey sky made time of day difficult to tell. The streets and buildings were all concrete and metal; cold. It made her feel anxious. She locked her arms around her torso as she looked for shelter. Her legs had a stiffness running down them. A dull ache in her skull she was becoming more aware of. There were few people out, glancing at her as she passed but never giving her a second thought. Water began to fall from the sky, a light drizzle she didn’t notice until she saw random spots appear on the sidewalk in front of her. She was already damp so she didn’t mind but the search for warmth was still pertinent. 

As she pass an open alley way, something she hadn’t previously notice collided with her body. The girl fell back on her rear and hands. She watched wide eyed as a pair of men ran past without any regard to her. One shouted back, “Fuck! Watch where you’re going!” as there shoes ground against the dirt and pavement. Then they were gone. She looked up at the surrounding buildings. A green sign handing off of the corner caught her eye. She pushed herself off of the pavement. Wiping the grime off her palms she ascended the steps and peered through the glass in the door. 

Inside was one big room. At the far end was a long wooden table, behind that a wall of bottles and a doorway leaning deeper inside. There was a staircase along the same wall at the other end leading up. Between the door and that wall was furniture. Six or seven tables with two to four chairs, a row of booths along the wall to the right with large tanks, and opposite to that was a sitting area under the window. Aside from the lights in the tank and the natural from the windows it was dark. There were no people inside. It looked warm. She tried the door handle but it would not turn. She couldn’t gain access that way. But that couch under the window looked very comfortable. The girl wanted to be inside. She left the door and followed the brick wall around the side to find another entrance. She passed by the window and pressed her face to the glass. It also would not move, but she felt it was less sturdier material. She continued around; the rough texture of the brick provided a constant sensation as she dragged he fingers along the surface. 

When she got around to the back of the building she caught a break. A door without windows was slightly propped open. She went over and grasped the handle tentatively. The door was heavy but without a latch it swung open for her. She crossed over and let it close back on the rock that was propping it. The darkness caught the girl off guard. The air was slightly warmer. She felt and stumbled her way deeper into the building. As she made her way, the light got better. She found a room that she hadn’t seen before. It was more narrow and different set up. Large metal appliances were set along the wall. She began poking through out of curiosity. There was a box with a door in front that had a window. On top was six circles underneath metal lines that had a slight grease coating. Another box was tall and rectangular with two doors. When she pulled one door open, light shown through as well as cold air. Labeled containers were stacked along the shelves. The machine hummed as she gazed about. 

It was a place for food she realized. A low growl emanated from her torso. Hunger. She understood consuming food was the desire in her stomach. The girl set about foraging. Grabbing an item, deciding if it was edible, and then consuming. Some things she tried she did not enjoy the taste of. In which case she would set them down and obtain a different item. Once she was no longer hungry she move on to the room she saw before. 

The perspective from a different angle was interesting. She noticed more details about the space. The decorations; images of people, little eggs on the tables, and the use of red throughout the space. The animals in the large tanks fascinated her. The bubbling from the filter combined with the easy gliding of the animals through the water gave her a sense of calm. She curled up in the booth under one of the tanks. Now that she was warmer and fed, her eyes became heavy. 

****

“Yo there’s some one here.” Bandō spotted the shoes poking out of the booth first when they returned to the Homra bar. 

“Someone broke into our bar?” Yata moved in aggressively. 

“Are they even alive?” Eric asked when the feet hadn’t moved. 

Dewa went over and peered over, “It’s a girl.” 

“A girl?” Yata began getting red. 

Chitose looked over Dewa’s shoulder, “She looks like Eric when you first brought him in, Kōsuke.” 

The girl stirred. She blinked multiple times as her eyes adjusted. When she saw the boys peering at her she sat up, scooting as far as she could to the wall, and saw there were more people in the room. 

“What the hell is going on?” Kusanagi asked as he entered. 

“Some girl broke into the bar.” Akagi filled him in. 

Kusanagi’s eyes narrowed. The bar was his and he was very proud of it. She strode over to the booth. The boys backed out of his way in respect. He reached in and pulled the girl out of the booth by the jacket. The slim man was unpredictably strong as he held her off the ground like she was a stray kitten. 

“Alright, out with it. What are you doing here? How’d you get in?” The blond bartender demanded. 

The girl looked at him with wide eyes. She did not understand what they wanted. He did not look friendly. She did not know how to communicate that she was not a threat. He glowered down at here waiting for an explanation she could not give him. She felt a rush of heat across her skin. A twist internally above her belly button. Then a sensation run up her throat. The girl gave no warning before she puked all over Kusanagi’s shoes. 

“Fuck!” He explained, dropping her immediately. 

All the other boys instinctively jumped back. The girl experience the awful sensation again unable to stop. She saw remnants of partially digested what she had eaten earlier mixed with a bitter acidy liquid. It left a bad taste in her mouth. Her legs felt weak. She sat back into the booth. 

“UGH! Nasty!” Chitose exclaimed as he turned away. 

“Gross!” Bandō agreed. 

“Nice work Mr. Kusanagi.” Akagi snickered, could help but find it funny. 

“Will you idiots knock it off and help me clean this shit up!” Kusanagi yelled, face red. 

The girl did not like the chaotic reaction. She slid off the booth and secluded under the table and watched from there. 

Eric and Fujishima when into the back to grab cleaning supplies. Kusanagi got some paper towels. Chitose and Dewa kept their distance, claiming they “weren’t gonna touch that”. Yata actually left the bar in horror. 

Kōsuke came back out with the bleach, “Hey, the back door to the alley is propped open. I bet that’s how she got in.” 

Kusanagi turned toward the other’s, now he was pissed. “Which one of you idiots left the door open?!” 

“Don’t look at me!” Bandō responded quickly. “I haven’t been in the back all day.” 

“What about you?” 

“Wasn’t me.” Dewa put his hands up and shook his head. 

The bell connected to the front door chimed. Mikoto entered with Tatara and Anna in tow. He stopped feeling the energy in the room. 

Tatara looked about, “What’s going on?” 

“Somebody left the back open and a girl wandered in and she puked on Kusanagi.” Akagi filled in with an inappropriate smile. 

Bandō elbowed him in the ribs, “Quit smiling. Mr. Kusanagi’s gonna burn your cap off your head. 

Kusanagi shoved the paper towels and bleach at them, “If you think this is so amusing then you can finish cleaning it up.” 

Tatara couldn’t spot this girl they were talking about, “So where is she?” 

Eric pointed to the table net to the mess. Tatara stepped around to help clean. He didn’t mind the mess. When it was done and he had washed his hands, he came back and crouched down so he could see her. 

“Hi there. Don’t worry about the mess, it happens.” He smiled. The girl had her knees pulled to her chest, watching him were curious brown eyes. “I’m Tatara Totsuka. What’s yours?” 

The girl just starred at him.

“I don’t think she can talk.” Kōsuke came over and looked over Tatara’s shoulder, making sure he didn’t completely block her in, “She hasn’t said a word since we found her.” 

Tatara kept his smile, “I’m sorry about my friends. Sometimes they don’t react in the best way.” He offered his hand out, “I’m sure you’d be much more comfortable on the couch instead of under there.” 

She studied him. She felt a little better after letting her stomach settle. But she wasn’t completely comfortable on the floor. Her clothes were still damp. He had a much calmer energy than the others. Slowly, she shifted onto her knees, crawled out, and took his hand to stand. 

Tatara kept her hand as he looked her up and down, “You must have been in the rain, your clothes are still damp. You don’t want to catch a cold by staying in wet clothes.” Tatara knew they didn’t have anything for her to change in. So he did the next best thing. Tapping into his power, a soft red glow came over them. The girl felt a much more gentle warmth embrace her and made a pleased noise from her closed mouth. The warmth dissipated. 

“There, that’s better.” Tatara patted her shoulder 

She blinked at him. Then looked around at the other faces now that the energy had calmed down. They were all looking at her. They seemed to be as curious about her as she was of them. Tatara decided to briefly leave her side to get her a drink of water. 

Her attention got caught on two figures. A little girl with stark white hair and reddish eyes was clinging to the hand of a tall man with fiery red hair. 

When people looked at Mikoto, it usually was with fear. Even those who didn’t know him were afraid of him. It was a natural instinct. Mikoto was intimidating in nature; looming over most with a constant scowl. Few looked at him with awe. Those who did were in his clan. But this girl had neither in her face. Wide eyes filled with an innocent, child-like wonder. The only other time he had seen that look was on Anna. 

The new girl came closer. Mikoto got déjà vu of when Anna first met them. The girl was mesmerized by his hair. Her hand rosed up towards it. Mikoto’s hand wrapped around her wrist. Not hard, but enough to stop it.

“No.” His deep voice rumbled from his chest.

Tatara returned, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. He offered up a glass, “Here. Drink this.” 

The girl reluctantly brought her hand and took the glass. She cautiously brought it up. The liquid was a nice cool change in her mouth. She found it pleasant.

“Don’t drink too much too fast.” Tatara warned, “You don’t want to upset your stomach more.” 

She backed off and followed his advice. Tatara guided her by the shoulder over to the couch. She sat down figuring that was what he wanted. 

Anna let go of Mikoto’s hand and followed the new face to the couch, completely enthralled. The little girl was colorblind and nothing interested her aside from Mikoto’s aura. Seeing her fascinated with someone new got the room’s interest.

Tatara smiled, “Wow. It seams like Anna likes you. You should feel honored.” 

The girl tilted her head. Anna reached into her pocket. She pulled out a red glass marble. Anna held it to her eye and peered through it at her. Mikoto put a cigarette in his mouth. He walked up behind her. 

“What is it?” He asked the strain; Anna could see things the rest of them couldn’t. Sometimes he saw them too, but today was not one of these times. 

“She’s all blank.” Anna let her arm drop with the hints of surprise laced on her face. 

“What?” Kōsuke asked confused. 

Tatara turned toward the expressionless child, “What do you mean Anna?” 

“She has no memories.” Anna’s soft voice explained as she looked up to Mikoto. “She can’t tell you her name because she can’t remember what it was. It’s all been erased. Her mind is all blank.” 


	2. What to Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homra decided what to do about the girl in the bar.

“What are we supposed to do with her?” Dewa asked in a low tone. The boys were all gathered around the bar. Kusanagi was behind it, Mikoto and Tatara sat at it, and the rest stood. The red clan spoke in low voices and would look over at her frequently. The girl sat on the couch. Anna had joined her. The girls waited quietly for Homra to decide her fate. 

“We can’t just send her away.” Akagi crossed his arms. 

“Why don’t you just take her home like all your other strays.” Chitose suggested snidely to Kōsuke. 

“How about the hospital.” Kusanagi recommended with an eye roll. “Let a doctor take care of her.” 

“You just want us to drop her off. Pass her on like a library book?” Kōsuke’s soft side was activated from the beginning. 

“That’s their job.” Kusanagi exasperated. “If she really does have total amnesia, then a hospital is the best place for her to get help.” 

Tatara frowned, he knew Izumo was right. Logically taking her to the hospital was the right course of action. He looked back at the couch. Both girls starred back. Tatara wondered where she came from. If she had a family looking for her. How could she had complete memory loss. Who was she? 

Tatara turned to Mikoto, “What do you think, King?” 

Mikoto had been silent since Anna’s revelation. He was midway through his cigarette eyes closed. He hated making decisions. Mikoto took a long drag. “Turn her over to the hospital. They’ll contact the police and take care of her from there.” 

Anna grabbed the girl’s arm. She didn’t want them to send the blank girl away. She wanted her to stay. 

Tatara nodded slightly disappointed, “Alright. I’ll take her.” 

Anna tightened her grip, “Don’t send her away.” 

The blank girl looked down at the fragile looking child. A desire to comfort and protect her began to grow. 

Anna looked to Mikoto, “Please let her stay. She’d be safe here. Please Mikoto.” 

Mikoto let out a grumble. “No.” 

“Please.” 

“I said no.” 

Anna puffed her cheeks in anger. She never expressed any emotion, certainly not towards Mikoto, but at this moment was clearly upset with his denial. Her eyebrows furrowed together and her cheeks becoming flushed with pink. “She needs help. We should help her.” 

The boys were surprised by Anna’s expressed emotion. Mikoto slowly turned the bar chair around. He gave his ward a stern look. He didn’t know why she was so attached to a complete stranger who wandered in off the street. But Anna looked him in the eye and refused to budge. He sighed and looked over at the blank girl. There wasn’t anything he could get a read on. Which made him think Anna was right, that she had no memory. However they weren’t a charity. And he really didn’t want to get more involved. 

Tatara grabbed his coat, thinking up a compromise. “Well, why don’t we get her checked out at the hospital, make sure she’s okay. And then we can figure out what to do.” 

“She’s staying.” Anna reaffirmed. 

“We’re not gonna make an decisions.” Tatara’s gentle tone helped ease her. “Lets just see what the doctors say and then we’ll go from there.” 

Anna eyed him warily. “Okay.” She reluctantly agreed but she was going to stay by her side to make sure she came back. 

Aside from Tatara and Anna, Kōsuke, Eric, and Mikoto tagged along to the closest hospital. Anna determinedly stuck by the new girl’s side. Tatara went in and waited until she was settled in a room before going to the waiting area to give her some privacy. The rest of the group waited outside mostly so Mikoto could smoke. 

The girl did not like the hospital. The white walls, the smell, and the chaotic energy put her off. They waited in a bland room in stiff chairs for a long time, then she was moved to another room. She was told to change into a cloth gown that only made her colder. Then she had to wait some more. Tatara stayed long enough to talk with the doctor and explain the situation. She was glad Anna stayed by her side. The doctors ran a series of tests. They poked and prodded her, took some of her blood, had her pee in a cup, shone a light in her eyes. Then they wheeled her into another room with a big machine that they put her in and told her not to move. She was frustrated and scared and could only communicate through unhappy whines. After she got out of that machine, Anna took her hand and they broke away to find Tatara. 

Outside, Mikoto leaned back on a bench completely spread out and tiredly starring up at the sky. He had gone through half his pack and was still smoking. Kōsuke and Eric were on a bench across from him bored out of their skulls. 

“The hell is taking so long?” Eric asked. 

“I don’t know. Maybe its busy.” Kōsuke shrugged. 

“It’s been almost three hours.” Eric groaned, back stiff. 

Kōsuke tapped Eric’s knee and nodded his head towards the oncoming trio. They stood up to greet their friends. The girl was in between Tatara and Anna, and was holding both of their hands. 

“So, what the doctors say?” Kōsuke asked. 

Mikoto’s head straightened up, cigarette barely clinging from his dry lips. 

“Well, they ran some tests. And they still have to run some more.” Tatara started. “She did get a CT scan, and the doctor said that they seems to be a lack of activity in her frontal lobe.” 

“What does that mean?” Eric asked. 

“They said the frontal lobe is where we process and create memories. They said there doesn’t appear to be signs of trauma or damage that could effect that part of her brain. But She was getting upset so I convinced the doctor not to full admit her. They are gonna run some blood tests and should get the results in a few days.” 

“So, what’s the plan?” Kōsuke put his hands in his pockets. 

“She doesn’t like being here.” Anna stated. 

Tatara smiled as he turned toward the girl, “You can stay with me for now until we can find you a place to settle. I left my number with the doctor anyways.” 

“I want to stay with.” Anna looked up. 

Mikoto let out a grumble. The group looked to him as he stood up. He dropped the burning cigarette on the ground and ground his foot on it to put it out. He caught Anna’s pleading eyes. 

“Fine.” He exasperated, worn down from her begging. “She can stay at the bar until we find out who she is or someone who knows her.” 

The smile on Anna’s face might have not appeared to have been big, but it was massive for her.


	3. Snacks and snuggles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stray is settling in and the boys start thinking up names.

The stray had no problem moving into the bar. It was pretty easy, she didn’t have any stuff. Or at least, in the beginning she didn’t have any stuff. Tatara quickly rectified that. First brought her a couple of bags of thrift clothes, a variety of styles in what he figured was her size range. He also brought her some books, some spare bedding, and a tablet. 

“Totsuka, she’s been here three days! You’re getting her a house worth of stuff.” Kusanagi complained when he walked in with more bags. 

“Well, Mei needs some stuff if she’s going to stay here and I figured that she should be comfortable.” 

“Mei?” Bandō looked up from the comic he was reading. 

Tatara nodded, “I’m trying to figure out a name for her. We have to call her something. Until we find out what her actual name is.” 

Eric shook his head. “She doesn’t look like a Mei.” 

“What about Kimi?” Rikio offered. 

“Nah.” Dewa shook his head. 

“Suki?” Akagi suggested. 

“Too girly.” Chitose shot down. 

Yata grumbled as he tried to focus on his handheld game, “Why don’t you let her pick what she wants to be called?” 

“Hey that’s a good idea Yata.” Tatara smiled at him, “I can pick on a baby name book and go through it with her.” 

Kusanagi let out an irritated sigh. At the rate Totsuka was going, he was going to spoil the girl by the end of the week. Granted, Izumo was someone who enjoyed treating himself to nice things occasionally. And yes, she did need clothes and even though the tablet was expensive it was helping her learn. But he thought his friend was going a little overboard. After all, all this stuff was ending up in his bar. 

The patter or bare feet alerted them as the girls came down the steps. They had left the fort of pillows and blankets to retrieve food. 

The girl had spent most of the time keeping out of the way since they brought her back. She usually retreated to a hidey spot somewhere upstairs. When the bar was closed she’d gradually come down. Either snuggle on the couch with Anna, or take to a booth and watch the fish. Anna had been practically glued to the older girl. Where ever she went Anna was right by her side. Aside from Mikoto, Anna had never been so attached. The boys shrugged it off, maybe she was just drawn to the new female energy. 

She was dressed now in a fuzzy purple sweater and mismatched with green sweatpants. As she slipped behind Kusanagi to the kitchen. 

Chitose snickered, “You should teach her how to dress before bring her in public. People are gonna think a toddler dressed her.” 

She turned her head back to him, pointed to her sweater, “Comfy.” 

Comfy was one of the words she had learned to say. She also knew hungry, bathroom, tired, yum, no, yes, ew, bad, and good. between Anna, Tatara, and the tablet, she was learning more. But at least she had a few to communicate when she needed something. 

“If you want to keep spending money on her,” Kusanagi addressed Tatara, “you can cover her food bill. Her constant raiding is almost as bad as Kamamoto.” 

Rikio chuckled, “Hey, little lady has a healthy appetite.” 

Tatara nodded in agreement, “Nothing wrong with snacking. Though we don’t want her to eat too much junk food while she’s staying with us. A balanced diet is very important. 

Anna poked her head out of the kitchen, “Izumo, she wants something spicy. Not too much but a little.” 

“There’s some wasabi chips.” Rikio suggested happily. 

Anna nodded and disappeared again. The hall they placed on bar was, two bowls ofstrawberry yogurt, a box of biscuits, the wasabi chips, and a glass of orange juice. 

“Man that’s a weird combination for a meal.” Dewa scratched his head. 

“She’s exploring her pallet.” Tatara defended. “Some citrus, spicy, and sweet. There’s a lot for her to try and figure out what she likes.” 

She listened to them chat as she nibbled through her meal. She was beginning to pick up and understand, but there was still a lot that she missed. There was so much she was trying to learn. But her mind would get full too quickly. And she was tired a lot. When she wasn’t tired she felt sick. Sort of like when she first came to the bar, but rarely did it lead to throwing up. The only time it stopped was when she slept or ate. So she spent her day napping and eating throughout. She did like having Anna around. The little strain was helpful with her learning and she found the constant snuggles delightful. 

~

“No!” 

Mikoto opened his eyes in annoyance. He was trying to nap on the couch in his room, but he could hear the protesting all the way downstairs. Grumbling, he sat up and went to investigate. Mikoto’s eyebrow quirked at the makeshift fort that was in the sitting area. He shook his head before continuing on. His heavy footfalls announced his presence at the stairs. His eyes swept across the bar. 

“What’s going on?” He gruff in a sleep deprived tone. 

Anna looked up at him from her seat at the bar, “Tatara wants to take her back to the hospital. She doesn’t want to go bad, she didn’t like it there.” 

Tatara was crouched in from of a booth. “We have to go back to get her test results.” He explained, “I know she got a bad impression of the place but she has to come with, they won’t share that information with just me.” 

“No!” Snapped from underneath the table, where she was curled back as far as she could fold herself. 

“I know you don’t like it there. I promise they won’t be poking you this time. We’re just gonna sit and talk with the doctor. That’s all.” 

He got a whine in response that sounded like an animal. Mikoto was tired of the drawn out scene. He knew words of promise won’t work. If she was gonna act like a toddler, then they needed to handle her as such. 

Mikoto tapped Tatara with his foot. The brunette moved out of the way, curious how his King was going to get her out when his coxing wasn’t working. Mikoto grasped the edge of the table. He pulled it across the floor from the booth in one fluid motion. Surprised brown eyes looked up at him. 

“Out from there.” He ordered. When she didn’t move, he reached down and took ahold of her bicep. he tugged firmly towards him. “Up.” 

The girl complied without resistance. Once standing, he pulled her toward Tatara. Released her to him before scooting the table back into its spot. Mikoto moved to the couch. 

Tatara grabbed his jacket and slid it over her shoulders. “It’s just a conversation. Afterwords we can get a treat.” 

The incisive of a treat piqued her interest. She mulled it over. Looked at Anna, then Mikoto. She felt if she tried to hide again he would disrupt her place again. 

She let out a sigh, “yum.” 

Tatara smiled at her agreement, “Yes, we’ll get you some yum. Right after our appointment. 


	4. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatara delivers some shocking news regarding the new girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys find out about the pregnancy. Cue awkwardness, confusion, and a sweet moment.

“I checked our data base, no missing persons have been filed matching that description.” A female voice came through the receiver. “So who are you looking for in missing persons.” 

The front bell chimed. Kusanagi looked back to see Totsuak and company return. Tatara patted her back and told her to go ahead and go lie down. She broke off and went to the stairs. 

“I’ll tell you later, thanks.” Kusanagi hung up.

Tatara took a seat at the bar. The stairs creaked loudly as the stray squeeze by Mikoto on his way down. He joined his colleges at the bar. 

“So, what the doctor say?” Izumo asked as he set about cleaning the glasses. 

“Uhh, well,” Tatara’s voice inflected up when he was bothered. 

The doorbell rang again as Yata and Rikio entered. Mikoto took a seat at the bar. Izumo nodded for Tatara to continue. 

“Are you kidding me? Atomigon is not a better game than Rukeu.” Yata protested loudly. 

“I wasn’t saying it was better, just that Atomigon is a good game.” Rikio defended. 

“If you two are done, we are trying to have a conversation.” Kusanagi called. 

“She’s pregnant.” Tatara blurted out.

“What?!” Izumo nearly dropped the glass he was holding. 

“Who?” Yata’s eye’s were the size of saucers.

Mikoto gave him a glance that said, _‘_ _ who do you think?’ _

“Woah.“ Rikio scratched his head. “Did not see that coming.”

“Wha, what’da mean? How?!” Now it was Yata’s turn to pitch his voice unintentionally. 

Tatara rested his elbows on the bar, “uh, I’m not sure. I mean, I know how but, I don’t know. Out of everything, I did not expect that.”

“So she’s like, having a baby?” Yata sputtered.

Rikio smiled at his expense, “That’s what pregnant means, Yata.”

“Well,” Izumo broached, “did the doctor say anything else?” 

“Uh, listed of a bunch of stuff that she doesn’t have. Said she’s probably early on, recommended an OBGYN for her, and gave us some pamphlets to read. General information. We’d have to go to get some more information.” 

Mikoto grunted quietly. He had his suspicions. Something Anna said the second night, when she came to wish him goodnight. He asked her why she was so attached to the stray. Anna thought about her answer carefully. 

“She reminds me of when I first came here. Confused, and alone.” 

Mikoto nodded. Then Anna hugged his arm and said, “Please let her stay. She has some red. It’s so small right now, you can barely see it. It will be such a lovely red.” 

“Some red huh.” Mikoto looked down at his little strain. 

Anna nodded, “Right now it’s too small she doesn’t notice. But it’ll grow and soon you’ll see.” 

The one color Anna could see was red, so she was drawn to any and all items that held it. What brought her to Homra in the first place was the red clan’s aura, which she could see. So it was possible the new girl had a slight red in her aura that Anna had picked up on, but Mikoto suspected there was more to that. Although he appeared aloof, he had kept a careful watch on the new girl. Looking for cracks in the blank slate that would tell him more information. There was the possibility, although it was growing evermore unlikely, that this was all an elaborate rues she was playing to infiltrate his clan. He payed attention to every small, subtle detail and silently determined whether to dismiss it as harmless subconscious behavior. 

“What do you think King?” Tatara’s voice interrupted his train of thought. 

“Huh?” 

Kusanagi gave him an exasperated look, annoyed he stopped listening. “About the pregnancy, what do you want to do?” 

Mikoto finished his drink. He rose, putting his hands in his pockets. He lumbered towards the stairs. 

“Where are you going King?” Tatara asked. 

“I’m gonna ask her what she wants.” He replied, the steps creaked softly under his weight as he ascended. 

Pregnant

She still didn’t fully understand the word. Or the magnitude. Or why Tatara reacted to it. Clearly it meant something impactful. Otherwise he wouldn’t have responded the way he did at the office of the bad hospital. Utter shock quickly masked by false calm. The doctor said a lot of information that she didn’t understand. After they left, she asked Tatara to explain more. 

“Wh-a-t?” She sounded out the word she recently learned associated with a question. “Per-ga, per-ga, nnna-t? Per-gan-t.” 

Tatara scratched his head, unsure how to explain it in a way she could process. “uh, well. Pregnant, it means, that you’re having a baby.” 

She blinked at him, “Wha-t, bay-be?” 

“Uh, a baby,” he struggled, “a baby is, like, a tiny little person, growing inside you. And then it will get bigger, and then one day will be, not inside you anymore.” 

She had more questions. Like how did it get there? Did everyone have a tiny person growing inside them? Or did no one and that why he was so awkward right now? How long was it going to be inside her? And what was she supposed to do with it when it wasn’t inside her anymore? 

But she could tell Tatara was floundering enough as is. She still didn’t have enough words to articulate all her questions. So they got a treat of ice cream, to which she enjoyed very much, and returned to the bar. 

She left Tatara, at his suggestion, and retreated to the fort she and Anna built. Once settled, she pulled out the tablet and opened the search bar. It took her a few attempts in figuring out how to spell it. She had to sound it out several times, until she got close enough that the correct word was suggested in the auto correct. Multiple articles appeared. Definition, ‘How To Tell If You’re Pregnant’, ‘Pregnancy Symptoms’, ‘10 things to avoid durning pregnancy’, ‘Mommy Junction; pregnancy, baby names, and baby info’, and many more pages. 

The amount of information was staggering. It felt the more she was given, the more confused she got. She did realize for certain was that there wasn’t a simple explanation for pregnancy, which was why Tatara struggled so much, and that it was a complicated thing. She however wasn’t completely disheartened, and began clicking links to cess out the answers she craved. 

The blanket that held the role of roof was pulled back. She looked up to the red hair of Mikoto, half crouched down to peer at her. 

“Like hiding out, huh?” His tone was less of a question and more of an attempt to converse. 

“Yes.” She spoke slowly. “Comfy.” 

He grunted that he understood. He had asked Anna to go downstairs and help Tatara with dinner while he talked with their new friend. Mikoto was, however, bigger than the space of the fort. He had to disrupt it a little, but he wanted to talk with eye contact. She whined at his actions. 

“I’ll but it back.” He folded himself, uncomfortably, into the smaller space. His body wasn’t build to fit. Once he was finally settled in a comfortable enough seat, he looked at her again. “Tatara told us what the doctor said. Do you understand?” 

She let the tablet flatten against her chest. “No.” 

“Figured.” Mikoto assumed she was trying to get some clearer answers from google. “What do you want to do?” 

“Do?” She repeated. 

He pushed past his internal uncomfortableness on the matter, “You have some different choices you can make. There’s a different kind of doctor you’ll have to see who can explain them to you. But basically, you can keep it or get rid of it.” 

But what was  _ it _ exactly? 

She rubbed her palms against her eyes. All of this varying information was making her head hurt. “Tired.” 

He grunted in agreement. He shifted, “Scoot over.” 

She moved closer to the back of the couch. Mikoto squeezed to lay next to her with his feet out of the fort. She studied his face now that it was closer. 

“Don’t touch my hair.” He mumbled before closing his eyes. 

She watched as he quickly fell asleep. She have never been so close to Mikoto before. After a few minutes she picked the tablet up and made another attempt to read through the abundance. 


	5. Monkey See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of the boys spend some time with the new girl and start to get in touch with their soft side.

Kōsuke couldn’t remember the last time he held someone’s hand. It was warm and sweaty, and a little gross feeling. But he wasn’t going to mention his complaints to the girl in his company. It made her feel safer in the new environment.

Pretty much everyone knew about the new lil stray being pregnant. Yata blathered the first chance he got, just so he could get it off his chest. The young vanguard’s uncomfortable awkwardness spread to the rest of them. It took a few days, most of the guys were still awkward around her. It streamed from the same question they were all thinking; what were the circumstances that lead to pregnancy? The possibility floating out there, even though they weren’t said, made them squirm. 

Kōsuke had a good nature. He was always finding abandoned animals in the city, taking them in, fostering them back to health, and finding them good homes. While some of the guys teased him for being a softy, he found his compassion helpful. 

Since her memory was still blank, he put the questions aside and set about helping her now. Today he decided to take her out around the city. Specifically the shopping center. Akagi pointed out being cooped up in the bar all day wasn’t good all the time. Totsuka was a little reluctant. But after Kusanagi insisted that she needed to spend time with people other than him and Anna, and fresh air and walking would be good for her, He relented. 

Eric was with them too. It was rare for him and Kōsuke not to be together. They had become best friends after Kōsuke found him and brought him to Homra. So you could alway find the two of them side by side. 

“What’s that?” Was a phrase she had put together recently. In fact, her vocabulary had grown in the past week. Now whenever she wanted to know something, she’d point and ask. A frequent question today. 

“ ‘s a manikin. They use them to show off outfits the store sells.” Kōsuke answered patiently. 

Eric huffed in annoyance, “can we go? This place is boring.” 

“It’s only been an hour.” The red head responded. 

“It’s been two and a half.” Eric corrected, having just checked himself on his phone. 

“Oh. Well, she’s having fun.” Kōsuke glanced at the girl, “It’s good for her.” 

Eric glanced at her sideways. While he was Kōsuke’s best friend, he was rather cold when it came to new people. Not that being reluctant was a fault, he had plenty of experiences that made him weary of others. It took him a while to fit in with Homra and Kōsuke knew he just needed time to warm up to their little stray. 

“What’s that?” She interrupted again. 

“Those are sunglasses, Bandō and Kusanagi wear ‘em.” 

She mentally put the word to the image so she could identify later. She leaned her head towards Kōsuke’s arm. She like him, he was nice. He had red hair similar to Mikoto, but not quiet as red. Kōsuke let her touch his hair though. 

Her eyes drifted across the way and spotted a strange store. It had manikins and clothes like others they had looked at but they were all smaller. 

She pointed, “What’s that?” 

Kōsuke looked to where she was pointing, “looks like a baby store. It’s a place that sells stuff for babies.” 

“Baby.” She pointed to her abdomen.

“Yeah, that’s the place for the tings you need when you have the baby.” 

She tugged his arm and the trio walked over to the window. She peered in excitedly. The store had racks of cloths as well as other things. She found the tiny shirts and dresses extremely cute and felt the urge to get them. 

Kōsuke stopped her, “Hang on, we should probably look up what you need and make a list before we start buying stuff. Besides, you’ve got time before you’ll need any of this.” 

The girl stopped, a little disappointed. She trusted Kōsuke and Eric that they did not need to go in yet. Unlike Tatara, they considered buying things with more thought. She did not fully grasp the concept yet. She knew that you had to exchange something called money for things like clothes and food, but not at Homra. Homra she can ‘help herself’. But other places she couldn’t do that. Other places she needed money, but she did not know how to get the money. 

“Oh my God, are you guys seriously still shopping?” They turned and saw Yata Rikio. 

“Does it look like we bought anything yet?” Eric snapped at him in annoyance. 

“We don’t have to buy anything, were just showing her around.” Kōsuke but his free hand into his pocket. 

“Well, Yata and I were going out for some ice cream if you wanna join.” Rikio smiled down at the girl. 

The mention of a treat made her excited again. She tugged on Kōsuke’s arm and looked up at him with pleading eyes. 

“Sure, that sounds good.” 

She smiled as the duo joined their group. She always liked it when Rikio suggested food. And if there was something she didn’t want, he’d eat it for her. 

The ice cream place was down on the street level. She got a chocolate, berry, cookie swirl. Yata got a vanilla cone, Rikio was getting a complicated order, and Eric and Kōsuke still hadn’t decided. Yata went to wait outside after he had gotten his ice cream knowing Rikio would take a while. 

Yata leaned against the brick as he scarfed his cone down. He didn’t know how he felt about the new addition. Girls made him nervous. He didn’t know how to act around them. Anna was different, she was a kid, and he viewed her like a little sister. He glanced over his shoulder and watched the her black-hair head. She wasn’t like Anna. She wasn’t apart of the clan, yet. Her role was undefined. She couldn’t be an official member, not in her condition. Though she didn’t look pregnant. Yata grimaced and shifted uncomfortably. He looked around to focus on something else to shift to. 

Across the courtyard, on the other side of the fountain feature, another black-haired head caught his eye. 

Yata’s feelings shifted from awkward to anger. Immediately his brows knitted together to match his scowl. 

Fushimi met his eye, and returned the scowl with a mocking smirk. The traitor was in a black coat instead of the blue uniform but Yata would recognize him anywhere. He began to stalk towards the ginger. 

The girl came out to wait with Yata while the others payed. She saw him against the wall and stood next to him. She noticed Yata’s hostile focus. 

“Yata?” She cocked her head to the side. Out of everyone in the group, she had seen Yata the least. Kusanagi said it was because he was scared of girls. She didn’t think she was intimidating, certainly not compared to the vanguard. 

Yata’s focus was forward. She followed his eye to a man with glasses coming towards them. He didn’t look out of the ordinary. However Yata’s behavior suggested he was a threat. 

Fushimi paused. He knew about Yata’s aversion to the opposite sex and how it steamed from his fear of sex itself. So it was strange to see a girl so close to Misaki without a reaction. 

The girl looked back at Yata. She wanted to comfort him, like how Tatara does for her. She let got of her cup with one hand and reached to take his hand. 

The seething anger that was rising in Yata was short circuited. He yanked his hand away, which caused him to lose his balance. Yata flailed his arms before falling on his ass. 

“Wha- Don’t do that!” Yata’s face was tomato red. 

Fushimi stopped his advances to snicker. 

She blinked in surprise at his outburst towards her. Yata felt bad for yelling at her. The door opened and Eric, Kōsuke, and Rikio came out with their respective treats. 

“What are you doing on the floor?” Rikio asked as he took a bite of his banana spilt. 

“Nothing!” Yata scrambled to his feet. He brushed his hands off on his shorts trying to regain some of his image. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye to find her still looking at him in surprise. “just, I don’t like to be touched okay.” 

Eric groaned, “Did you seriously freak out?” 

“Shut up!” Yata snapped. He crossed his arms and looked away. The traitor was gone from the area, probably left when he saw he had backup. 

Kōsuke rolled his eyes as he took her hand once more, “she just wanted to hold your hand, you freak.” 

“Yeah, don’t flip out on her.” Eric snacked Yata upside the head. 

“Ow!” 

“Come on, lets go back to the bar.” Kōsuke took the lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to those who have been waiting long for an update, I have many stories and I try to work on all of them equally. Thanks for the kudos and patience! Enjoy!


	6. Little Heartbeats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blank girl gets her first look at her baby through an ultrasound, and gets a name as well.

Despite still being early in the day, Masaomi could tell it was going to be muggy. Japan was frequently humid, especially in the summer. If it was going to start getting muggy now, then they were in for a hot summer. 

“All I’m saying is we haven’t done anything as a clan since the girl showed up.” Chitose complained as he pushed the door open with his back. “Not even hung out all together.” 

“You’re just being jealous someone else had eclipsed the attention.” Bandō sipped his coffee as they left the shop. 

Shōhei smirked, “So? What’s the harm?” 

Chitose lit a cigarette, “I just don’t understand why she’s still here! Or what the plan to do with her is. Amnesia chick really gonna live above the bar, and have a baby? Seriously, what are we supposed to do with one of those?” 

Bandō elbowed him as he pushed past, forcing Yō to the rear.

Masaomi frowned at him, “You don’t have to be such a dick about it.” 

“I’m just saying.” He defended with a puff. 

“I’m sure Mr. Kusanagi and Mikoto will figure something out.” Akagi shrugged, “Hey, there’s Totsuka.” 

Tatara stood at the cross walk waiting for the light. He heard him and shifted the box in his hands so he could wave at them, “Hey Shōhei!” 

“What’s in the box?” Dewa asked as they joined him. 

“I stopped by a bakery by my place and got some pastries.” Tatara explained as the light changes and they entered the street. “I may need some bribery, our new friend has a ultrasound today and I’m trying to change her association of going to the doctor as a negative thing.” 

“So, what does mean?” Saburōta asked taking another sip. 

“Well, the doctor is gonna do a transabdominal exam and that should tell us how far along she is, but if it’s too early we might not see anything so then she’ll switch to a transvaginal which is done with a wand like probe.” 

Chitose choked and spat out his coffee. 

“Dude!” Dewa jumped back so he didn’t get any backsplash on his shoes. 

Chitose wiped his mouth on his sleeve, “Why are you telling us that?” 

“I think it’s important to do the research.” Tatara was unbothered by his reaction, “that way I can be better equip to help.” 

Dewa tossed his nearly empty cup in a trash can as they passed by, “We really need to find a name to call her.”

“I swear Totsuka, if this becomes another one of your hobbies.” Chitose puffed the smoke out of his lungs. 

Shōhei grinned mockingly, “You should pay attention, Yō. You might find yourselfon the hook one day and will need to know all this stuff.” 

“Fuck you!” Chitose shoved him, “That’s never gonna happen.” 

Bandō glance back at him, “Don’t be too sure about that.” 

“You know what, you all are on my shit list now.” Yō shoved past while his friends snickered after him. 

~

Anna couldn’t stop smiling. They had some of hair tutorials on youtube and now were trying them on each other. She never had her hair played with. Well, no, Tatara would brush it when she asked. It was different with a girl. Anna actually got to play with someone else’s hair. The blank girl had dark hair, that was thicker compared to hers, and a little shorter than hers. Anna hummed happily as she braided the black hair. 

Izumo watched the girls playing on the stairs. He couldn’t help but adore the moment. He liked seeing Anna so happy. Mikoto was stretched out on the couch napping, while he was wiping tables down. Kusanagi enjoyed closed days, where it was quiet and clean. Unfortunately, it was short lived. 

The bell rang as five of the guys filtered in. Tatara set a brown box on the bar and went over to the girls. 

“Don’t you two look lovely.” He complemented as he admired the butterfly clips on Anna’s head. 

“What’s with the box?” Izumo asked. 

“They’re treats, but they’re not for us.” Dewa took up a chair. 

“Treats?” She turned her head slightly. 

“Yes, I brought you some treats. You have a doctor appointment today.” 

She made a slight disappoint sound in her throat. She still wasn’t fond of her doctor appointments, and they seam to never end. The past couple weren’t as bad as the first time at the hospital. And Tatara explained they were to keep track of her health and her baby. 

“I told you it was happening, did you drink the water like I told you to?” 

She sighed, “Bathroom.” 

“Yes, I know you’ll want to go to the bathroom, but the doctor says you have to have a full bladder to make it easier to get an image.” 

Chitose groaned loudly, “Stop saying stuff like that.” 

“Dude if you get grossed out by the word bladder you are in for a rude awakening.” Saburōta pulled out his phone. 

Tatara got a glass of water, “Drink this down, we’ll leave in about twenty minutes okay.” 

“Okay.” She begrudgingly took the glass. 

~ 

“Alright, lets take a look.” Dr. Asano said as she moved the transducer across her goo cover belly. 

She wasn’t that comfortable. They were in a small room, and even though there was only three people it was very cramp. Second, she had to go to the bathroom badly. Tatara told her she couldn’t until after the scan was done. When she asked “how long?” He said it might take a while. Then Dr. Asano smeared a bunch of goo on her belly that was a little cold at first. She said to was to help the transducer. But all the girl wanted was to wipe it off and put her shirt back down. 

Tatara was sanding by her head. He gave her reassuring smiles while he watched the doctor work. 

“Now the first thing I’m looking for is a heart beat.” Dr. Asano spoke as she focused on the screen of the machine the transducer was connected to. She was told the situation and promised discretion. 

It took a couple minutes for her to find the right angle. When she did, she pressed a button and the room filled with a strange sound. 

“Sounds good.” The doctor said. 

“That’s the heartbeat?” Tatara’s voice was soft in bewilderment. 

“Yup.” Dr. Asano turned the monitor, “And this is your baby.” 

She turned her head to look. The screen was mostly black with a triangular shape and white contrast, and at the bottom was a ovalish shape. It didn’t look like a baby; not like the pictures she had seen online. Tatara had told her it might not look like one at first but it would develop and grow over time. 

“I would say given the size and current state of development, you’re probably around 9-11 weeks or so.” The doctor spoke, “Still in the first trimester. Now from here, we can approximate a due date. Keep in mind that a due date is not a sure thing the baby will be born, its more like a general timeframe and many women tend to be a little early or a little late. Would you want to do a nuchal translucency screening?” 

“What’s that?” Tatara asked, his eyes still caught in the wonderment on screen. 

“Its A type of test we do to look for genetic problems with the fetus such as conditions like Down syndrome or Trisomy 18. We do some blood tests as well as look for thickening around the neck as an indication.” 

At the sound of blood test, she gave a whine and looked at Tatara, “No Needles!” 

He took her hand to squeeze comfort, “I know, you hate needles.” He looked to the doctor, “Do you think that’s necessary?” 

Dr. Asano turned the screen back to face her, “as far as I can tell, I see no abnormalities that would warrant further testing. Everything looks healthy, and you are taking your prenatals?” 

“She is.” Tatara answered. 

“Then you are fully within your wish to pass the NT.” 

She relaxed into the table, chair thing. The Doctor was indifferent, she saw nothing that suggested anything was wrong and she was not the first new mother to say no to the NT. She had been an OBGYN and Midwife for 15 years and had dealt with every form of pregnancy and birthplan in the book. 

Dr. Asano printed off a copy of the ultrasound image for them to keep. After she was able to clean up and pee, Tatara and the expecting mom was able to schedule the next ultrasound as well as ask questions. 

The girl held her photo as they walked from the bus stop to the bar. She wanted to show Anna her picture. Even if it didn’t look like a baby yet. They had stopped by a shop and Tatara and bought her a journal. 

“You can use it to keep track of your pregnancy.” He explained like the doctor had suggested, “I’ll show you how to write so for now I’ll fill it for you.” 

She simply nodded, not sure why she had to have it written down when she could just keep it in her mind. She looked down at the picture again. The top corner was the J. Doe Totsuka, Tatara said that she could use his last name. 

She didn’t have an official name. She didn’t have one when she met him, and he had two. Jane Doe was was on her files when she went to the doctors. That what the doctors called her, but she didn’t like that. Jane did not feel like her name. Tatara had sat and tried to find one for her. She didn’t like any of them. 

When they arrived back home, she headed for the stairs. She went straight to Anna’s room. Anna was sitting on the floor playing with her red marbles. The girl sat in front of the strain and offered the photo. 

“My baby.” She liked that she didn’t have to use a lot of words to explain with Anna. 

The younger girl took the photo and studied it. A small smile ghosted her lips, “Your little red.” Anna said affectionately. 

Meanwhile downstairs, Tatara shared the update with the group. Kusanagi was out, but Mikoto, Fujishima, andSōlt were there. Kōsuke was the only one really interested. Eric only listed to the part that everything was healthy before tuning out with his phone. Mikoto merely grunted indifferent as he helped himself to a glass of whiskey. Tatara sat next to his King and began to fill in the journal. 

The patter of bare feet alerted them. Anna came down with an excited energy while the stray trailed behind. She stayed on the stairs while Anna went up to Mikoto with the photo. She set it on the bar and pushed it towards him. 

Mikoto turned his head, “What’s that?” 

Tatara looked up, “Oh, that’s the ultrasound picture! That’s what the baby looks like right now, we think she’s 9-11 weeks along.” He pointed to the fetus. 

Mikoto squinted at the picture. “What ever you say. I can’t see shit.” 

“Okay so the this whole area is the uterus, this is the heart beat-“ 

“I didn’t say I wanted a lesson in reading pictures.” Mikoto interrupted as he took a sip. 

Anna ducked into the kitchen for gummy treats the girls were going to eat while they watched a movie. Which was why the other had only come half down since they were only going to show Mikoto before going back up. 

Mikoto pinched the side of the picture and held it out for her to take back, “Hide.” 

The girl on the stairs looked up to his offering. She stood up and came over to retrieve it. 

“Hide?” Tatara gave him a confuse look.

She took the photo back. 

Mikoto’s arm slunk back to prop against the bar, “That’s what I’m calling her.” 

“Hide.” She echoed back, tasting how it felt. She liked it. 

Anna returned with two packets of gummies. She smiled at the brooding redhead, “She likes the name you gave her.” With that, the two scrambled back up the stairs. 

“Hide huh?” Tatara watched them go, “I guess that’s what we’ll call her then.” 


	7. Skaterboy and the Monkey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hide decides she wants to spent time with Yata, much to his chagrin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick lil chapter with Hide and Yata because they are both too cute. Hope you enjoy!

Yata would say he was good at skating. He first tried it after he join Homra and the habit stuck right away. He spent hours at the skate park practicing, and rode his board everywhere he went. The guys even chipped in and got him a custom design of their insignia for his birthday. So yeah, he would say he was good at skating.

He still visited the skate park at least once a week. Just for fun and to show off his skill. Sometime Kamamoto would come and watch him. Or a larger group of them would come and mess around. But most of the time it was just Yata. It had been that way since.... nope. Not going to think about him. 

Today however, Yata wasn’t alone. He had an admire watching on one of the benches, and frankly he didn’t know why she wanted to hang out with him. 

The new girl, Hide as they were calling her now, followed the skater with her eyes. He had announced that he was coming here and she immediately jumped up. Yata of course tried to dump her on someone else. But Mr. Kusanagi told him it would be good for her to spend time with him. Said she was pretty easy to keep track of and pretty much order him to baby sit her. Akagi told him to hold her hand just to rub it in. They all knew how uncomfortable around girls he was, but those asshole were determined to make him spend time with her. 

Given that he had no choice, Yata sat her on a bench. As he skated and did tricks he was constantly checking to make sure she was still there. He knew that if he lost her or let her get hurt Mr. Kusanagi would skin him alive. 

Despite his awkwardness, Yata got why his friends were so protective. It must really suck not being able to remember who she was. Not even her own name. And to be having a kid on top of all that. He could help but feel bad for her. 

Yata went up the wall and stopped his momentum. He walked to the water fountain and helped himself to several big gulps. He gasped as he wiped his mouth with the collar of his shirt. He walked over to the bench to check in. 

“Hey, you doing alright? Need anything?” 

Hide looked up at his face with those large, pretty brown eyes. She shook her head, then pointed to his skateboard. 

“Try?” She asked hopefully.

Yata shook his head viciously, “UH-UH! No way, Mr. Kusanagi would be furious.” 

Even though Yata didn’t understand a lot about girls, less when it came to pregnancy, he did know Skateboarding. When he first started he fell on his ass more time than he could count. Eventually he got good and now he rarely falls, but that took at least a year of solid practice. 

Tatara told him, “You’ll be fine, just make sure she doesn’t fall.” 

Yata took that very seriously. 

“Oh common Misaki, let her give it a shot.” A snide voice made his head snap. 

“Monkey.” Yata growled as he turned. 

Fushimi was leaning against one of the posts for the shade covers. Instead of the usual blue uniform he was in a black outfit. 

Yata moved so that he stood between Hide and the traitor, “What are you doing here.” His voice was hostile. 

Fushimi’s mocking smirk grew, “I figured you’d be here, like usual. I’m surprised you brought a girl. Did you finally get yourself a girlfriend Misaki?” 

“Don’t call me that!” Yata shouted enraged. “And she’s not my girlfriend!” 

Fushimi snorted, “Why am I not surprised.”

Hide watched the interaction. Yata seamed so upset by this man. Her instinct was to comfort him, but them she remembered he said he didn’t like being touched. She looked over at the skateboard resting against the bench. She was so hypnotized by the tricks he did and wanted to do them herself. Maybe she could try while Yata dealt with this. 

Hide reached over and quietly wrapped her fingers around the side. She lifted it with two hands and set it flat on the ground. She lifted one foot and set it on the board with curiosity. It felt solid enough. She pushed on the leg that was on the board and lifted her other leg. The board shifted at the change of weight. She tried to catch herself at the unexpected movement and the board rolled out from under her. Hide fell backward at the same time the board went out under her. However instead of hitting the ground, someone caught her.

Hide looked up to see Yata straining. His arms were underneath hers. Her head was rested against his stomach. His face was red from holding his breath. Her rear was hovering off the ground. 

Yata’s heart had never jumped so fast in his life. He just saw her in the corner of his eye and barely managed to catch her. He let out a breath as he lifted her back up to her feet, heart pounding away in his chest. 

Fushimi thought the reaction was a bit much. He rolled his eyes, “Just let her fall. Its how she’ll learn not to.” 

“She can’t fall you dipshit, she’s pregnant!” Yata snapped at him. 

Fushimi’s eyes widened. He looked over and studied the girl. She didn’t look like she was, but he knew that didn’t mean anything. 

Hide looked down. She felt bad. She should have listened when Yata told her no. She almost got hurt. The doctor said she isn’t allowed to do that. She brought her arms in and ran her fingers along her fore arm. 

Yata took a deep breath. He shot his former friend a angry glare as he scooped up his board. 

“C’mon, lets go.” He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and lead her away. 

Hide obediently followed. 

They walked along the sidewalk in silence. Yata’s heartrate was still going pretty strong. She kept dragging her finders across her arm. They stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the light. 

Yata turned to her scratching the back of his neck, “I’m sorry I yell. Skateboarding is really hard I just make it look easy. But that’s only cuz I’ve been doing it for a long time, and Tatara and Mr. kusanagi said you can’t fall.” 

“ ‘m sorry.” Hide mumbled. 

Yata swallowed, “Look, I, uh, maybe I can teach you. After you have the baby that is.” He said quickly. 

She glanced up at him, “promise?” 

Yata looked away, “Yeah sure. Just remember you gotta wait until after ‘K?” 

“O K.” Hide nodded, a small smile forming as she realized he was warming up to her. 


	8. Insecurities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The red clan begins to question if they should tell Hide the truth about them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short update I finally was able to work on. Thinking the next chapter will be longer and have more action to it.

The sound of crunching ice was the only sound at the bar. It’s all she wanted to recently. Hide was stretched out on the bar couch with a big cup of ice. Reflections of light slowly moving across the ceiling. Usually when the bar was quiet like this, Kusanagi would be cleaning or Mikoto napping. But strangely she was completely alone. Even Anna was out. Hide didn’t know where. They didn’t say where they were going. 

Hide was seldom alone since she came to the bar. When she was awake she was always with someone. Anna or Tatara most of the time. She had been spending time with the others too. Occasionally even Mikoto. The lack of another person was odd. She didn’t know what to do. So here she was, eating ice while she waited. 

Hide stuck another cube in her mouth as she moved the cup to look at her belly. It protruded out noticeably one morning when she woke up, and was steadily expanding. She liked wearing loose, bigger shirts so when she was standing it would be covered by the fabric. She could tell it was getting bigger. Hide had seen pictures online and at the doctors office showing her how big her belly would get. It boggled her mind. 

“What are we gonna do about Hide?” 

Akagi gave Rikio a confused look, “What about her?” 

“Well, I was just thinking, she’s doesn’t know about the clan. I mean we’ve never told her about the things we can do, or were we are right now. Don’t you think we should say something?” Rikio looked at his friends. 

Kōsuke and Eric crossed paths with a couple of strains. They scared them off, but them they came back so they got the whole clan involved. They had handled dangerous strains before Scepter 4. There was a little fighting, nothing too dangerous. 

“Don’t you think she’s got enough on her plate?” Dewa messes with his hair and fixed his hat. 

“Plus what if she freaks out?”Chitose chimed in. “What if it scares her and she runs away?” 

“Where would she even run to?” Bandō asked. 

Akagi shook his head, “Hide isn’t gonna run away. She knows we’d never hurt her.” 

“So, should we tell her about the whole clan thing?” Rikio asked slowly. 

The boys looked at each other, expecting the other to have a definitive answer. 

~ 

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Seri Awashima crossed her arms. 

“What gave you that impression?” Izumo’s tone was playful. 

Seri was not waved by his charming attitude, “What are you up to?” 

“Is this why you asked me to meet you, to give me vague suspicions? Tell me, what might have I done to warrant the interrogation Lieutenant Awashima?” 

“You reached out to me a month ago now about a missing girl. You said you we’re going to fill me in but you never did. Now I’ve gotten reports that your entire clan was out and engaging in fighting.” 

Izumo kept his aloof smile as he dug for his lighter, “ah. Some strains decided to try and cause trouble on our turf. Nothing too extreme, it was more of intimidating than actually hurting them.” 

“And the missing girl you wanted me to look into?” 

“Separate issue.” He took a drag before he continued. “We have this girl, wandered into the bar one day, has complete memory loss. Doctors haven’t figured out what caused it.” 

“She really doesn’t remember anything?” Seri’s hard expression loosened. 

“Nope. Totsuka’s been teaching her how to talk. She can actually communicate with us now but she’s basically had to relearn everything.” 

Seri found this strange, “She’s staying with you?” 

“At the bar. We found her so might as well take care of her till we figure out who she is.” Izumo half shrugged. 

“Nothing has come back?” 

“Nope.” 

“So you don’t know anything more that could be used to help find her?” 

“We don’t need to find her, just who she is.” Izumo didn’t pass up the joke. He took the lack of amusement from Seri’s face. “No. Early twenties woman with long black hair, brown eyes, about your height, maybe a little shorter.” 

Seri rolled her eyes. She felt like there might be more than he was willing to share. “Fine. I can go back through and check again if someone matching that description has been reported as missing.” She turned to go and walk back to her job. 

Izumo called after her, “Hey Seri, any reason you can think that someone wouldn’t report someone missing?” 

“Could be, she doesn’t have any family. Could be homeless. Or maybe no one is missing her?” 

Izumo’s smile faded as he put of his cigarette, “Thanks. Keep me posted.” 

~

Hide opened her eyes when she head the bell chime. Tatara pulled his key from the lock. 

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” 

“Wasn’t. Just resting.” She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eye, “Where’s everyone?” 

Tatara set his bag down and sat in the chair across her, “Ah, well, there were some people trying to cause some trouble. But we, I mean King- Mikoto, took care of it.” 

“Where’s Anna?” She looked to the door. 

“She’s with him. It’s good for them both to be together by themselves. They’ll come back soon enough.” 

Hide understood. Anna spending time with Mikoto. The other part, people causing trouble and them taking care of things, that she doesn’t get. What people? Why did they cause problems? Why did every one, including Anna, had to go? 

Tatara stood up, “How about we go out? You can pick what we do.” 

Going out sounded like a nice change of pace. “Okay.” Hide nodded. She got up and went upstairs to get shoes. 


	9. Glasses in Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homra keeps leaving Hide at the Bar. She starts to feel odd sensations, so her and Anna go out looking for them.

Seri always felt apprehensive going to the red clan’s headquarters. The two clans have always been at odds. It’s been that way since their predecessors, Genji Kagutsu and Jin Habari, where chosen as the first red and blue kings respectively. The red clan had always been wild, out of control, and dangerous. Their element was fire and reflected by the people who used it. The blue clan, her clan, was calm, enforcing order. The opposite of fire. 

The problem with red was that their power easily consumed the King instead of having control. Genji Kagutsu became mad and let his Sword of Damocles fall, killing thousands including his own clan, the grey king and clan, and resulted in the death of Jin Habari. The replacement King Mikoto Suoh did not did not so much promise. 

Despite being on opposing sides, Seri had develop a line of communication with Suoh’s second, Izumo Kusanagi. He was a womanizer and a charming liar, but they both wanted the same thing. To have their kings and clans be alive. So the could reach through enemy lines in secret to met like this. 

The bar was deserted mid morning. Kusanagi was taking inventory when she opened the door. 

“Is your King here?” Seri was only scared of Suoh’s uncontrollable rage. 

“He left about a hour ago.” Kusanagi set his pen down. “Better make this a quick visit just in case.” 

“In that case, I’ll skip the drink.” Seri sat across from him at the bar, setting her bag down. She pulled out a folder and set it on the polished bar. 

“I went back through missing persons. I didn’t find anyone matching your Jane Doe. However, I did find something that sounded like your case.” 

Izumo slid the folder closer and opened it. 

“In the past seven years, there has been five Jane Does’ cases involving complete memory loss. Two of the women died from complications while in hospital. One committed suicide. One disappeared again after being discharged, and the other was admitted to a full time facility. The last case was almost three years ago.” 

Kusanagi skimmed through the files, “Not very conclusive. Any other connecting factor other than the memory loss?” 

“Women between the ages of 22-26 when they were found. I’m hoping the hospital will have more records than the report does.” 

Kusanagi flipped the folder close, “Thanks for looking into this.” 

The stairs creaked as a body walked down. Seri turned here had to see a young woman with a purple cup in her hand. The girl stared back at her with tired eyes 

“What do you need Hide?” Kusanagi spoke in a gentle tone. 

The girl’s gaze linger before she looked at him. She stuck out her cup, “Ice.” 

“Sure, bring it over.” 

She shuffled over. Izumo too her cup and opened the ice box under the bar. Seri’s eyes couldn’t help but dart to her belly. She looked bck at her and seri immediatelylooked away. 

“You’ll have to excuse her, she doesn’t spend much time around other women. Hide, this is Seri. She stopped by for a visit.” 

Hide took back her cup, “Where’s Mikoto?” 

“He’ll be back soon.” 

“When?” 

Izumo touched her shoulder, “How about you back upstairs, and I’ll text him. Okay?” 

Hide glanced back at Seri. “Okay.” She wandered back to the stairs and quietly disappeared again. 

Seri watched her belly go again. 

Izumo addressed her, “We’re working on her social skills. Lately she seams to want to know where Mikoto is when he isn’t around.” 

Seri cleared her throat at the mention of the Red King. She scooped up the folder and returned it to her bag, “I should go as well.” 

Kusanagi pulled out his cellphone. “See ya, Seri.” 

~

Hide wonder where Mikoto went when he left the bar. Perhaps it was because they lived in the same place, so she noticed his absence more. More often than not, he would leave on his own without a word. No one ever seamed to fuss over him leaving like they did with her. When she asked Anna about it, the little girl was reluctant to elaborate. 

“Sometimes, Mikoto gets mad. And he has to be by himself for a while.” 

Hide had no concept of anger. She had learned about the basic emotions from her tablet, but most of them she had yet to experience herself. She didn’t know what anger felt like. She couldn’t relate to what Mikoto was feeling yet. 

A couple days later, Hide was left at the bar again. This time Anna was left with her, but all the boys were gone and wouldn’t say what or where they were going. 

Anna was upset, “They’re going to go fight.” 

“What’s fighting?” 

“Fighting is when Mikoto goes, and battles someone. They might get hurt.” 

Hide rubbed her arm. Fighting did not sound good and she didn’t like being left behind again. 

Anna gave her a hug. Her head came to Hide’s chest. “I don’t like it when they go fight.” 

Hide held the smaller, warm body and felt a sense of warmth inside bubble up. “Let’s go find them.” 

Anna’s red eyes looked up at her, “We’re supposed to stay. If they’re fighting Mikoto wouldn’t want us there.” 

Hide looked to the door, “Let’s find them. If they are, we’ll come back.” 

Anna separated and stepped around the bar. Kusanagi kept a spare key in the register. She retrieved it before scurry upstairs. She pulled out a map of the city in her room. Anna set down three marbles and used them to see. She focused on Mikoto’s red. The marbles began to circle the map. Then the circles became smaller. The three bright red marbles came together. Anna wrote down the street name, grabbed her coin purse and the marbles, and returned downstairs. 

“Okay.” She took Hide’s hand. 

They made sure the door was locked behind them. Hide let Anna lead the way. The girls walked quietly to the bus stop. Anna told her it would be faster to get where they wanted. The got seats by the front. Riding the bus was was a new experience. The motion made Hide’s stomach pull. It was a sort of fluttering, twisting sensation. Which made it hard to enjoy the ride. Anna sensed her discomfort. She held Hide’s hand and keep her eye on the stops. 

When they got off, Hide sat on the bench at the stop for a few minutes until she stomach settled. The sidewalk was lined with small trees. Sighs and posters were everywhere. People milling on both sides of the road. Cars passing by at quick speeds. 

“We only have to walk a couple of blocks.” Anna promised. 

Hide nodded, “Yeah. Good. Walking.” 

Hand in hand, the girls merged into the flow of foot traffic. It was only for a little bit. Anna lead them off the main road onto a side street. They spilt off onto another side street. As they walked, the number of traffic around them dwindled. The twisting and pulling in Hide’s stomach was gone, but the fluttering was still there. Her free hand held her bump to try and ease it away. 

Anna was getting worried that the discomfort she sensed in her friend wasn’t going away. “Just a little farther.” 

An explosion only a street or two away got their attention. A big cloud of dirt rose with the shockwave. The ground shook beneath their feet. Hide staggered her feet. She squeezed Anna’s hand as she looked around. There were no other people around them. As the cloud disappeared, she heard the sound of yelling and grunting. The girl moved around the corner and saw two figures dancing around each other. 

Hide had to take a couple of moments to recognize it was Yata due to his lighting fast movements. He was on his skate board circling a boy in blue. She remembered the glasses and dark hair from the skate park. The blue uniform, sword, and the inappropriate smile on his face made her neck bristle. Hide and Anna watched as the boys clash, blue and red sparks coming off of them. The fighting was intense. Hide desperately wanted it to stop. 

“Yata!” 

She tried to get his attention but he was to involved with the other boy. He jumped and tried to collide board first, the other boy blocked with the blade of his sword. The boys both jumped back. Hide had to get their attention before they went again. He let go of Anna’s hand and stepped between the boys as the geared up to go again. 

Yata’s eyes became soccer balls when he saw her. He turned his skate board too sharp and unintentionally launched himself forward. Yata tumbled twice and landed on his stomach. The other boy was also building up momentum and when Hide got in the way, he lost control and ended up falling backwards onto his butt. 

Hide quickly helped Yata to his feet, “You okay?” 

“What are you doing here!?” His voice cracked. “You’re supposed to be at the bar!” 

Hide checked over to make sure he wasn’t injured before she went other to the other boy and offered her hand out. He gave her a baffled look. 

Yata pulled her away, “Don’t! He doesn’t need your help.” 

The other boy narrowed his eyes at Yata. He stood up by himself and turned away to sheath his sword. 

Yata looked at the girls, recovered from his shock, “What are you doing here? You know Mr. Kusanagi doesn’t want either of you around when we’re fighting the blues.” 

Anna lowered her eyes, “Hide and I didn’t like being left behind at the bar. She really wanted to come.” 

He let out a frustrated sigh. He glanced at Fushimi but clearly the mood had passed. 

“I’m sorry. I told her we should have stayed.” Anna’s voice was quite. 

Yata would have preferred to be fighting instead of babysitting. However he could already hear Kusanagi ordering him to take the girls back and to stay with them. “Alright. I’ll walk you back.” 

Yata walked over to retrieve his board. 

“So disappointing.” Fushimi muttered. 

“You got something to say Monkey?” 

“Clearly you’ve lost your edge Misaki. Its sad really, watching you follow after a girl.” Fushimi fixed his glasses. 

“Listen up monkey, I can kick your ass any day! Whatever you’re implying-“ 

“It’s sad because she’s not your girlfriend but has you whipped anyways.” Fushimi gave him that mocking smirk. 

“Fuck you.” Yata growled. He almost lost his temper again. 

Hide felt an odd sensation. Like there was a bubble inside her and it popped. Both hands grabbed her stomach. She made a nose in her throat. 

“What’s wrong?” Anna asked. 

Hide knitted her brows, “Something... feels strange.” 

Yata came back over, “What’da mean?” 

Hide shook her head, unsure how she could explain what was going on. “Just, strange feeling inside.” 

Yata’s went from angry to worried. He knew nothing about pregnancy, but weird feelings couldn’t be good. He glanced back at Fushimi. The traitor’s back was to him and he apparently had gotten bored so now he was walking away. 

“Tatara?” Hide asked, knowing he knew what to do. 

“Totsuka doesn’t fight,” He looked back at her once Fushimi went out of sight, “Tell you what, stay here, I’ll go get Mr. Kusanagi and he’ll know what to do. Okay? Just stay right here.” 

Hide nodded wordlessly. 

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” Yata ran off a different direction from the blue boy. 

Another explosion like event shook them. It seamed to be a little closer. After the shaking stopped, Anna whispered “Mikoto.” 

Hide was worried about the sensation she kept feeling. At the mention of Mikoto, she wanted to find him. If Tatara wasn’t here, Mikoto would know what to do. 

Flashes of red and blue were obscured by clouds of dirt. Yells and energy were all around them. Mikoto loved fighting. It was the only outlet for his anger. He had been angry for as long as he could remember. Not at a particular person or thing, he was just always mad. When he became A King, he only seemed to get angrier. Most of the time it wasn’t an even fight. People challenged him. And he burned them to a crisp. There was only a few who gave him a fair challenge. Those few people had his title. 

There was a lot of fighting between the clans, but was clear which two were causing the most damage. Divots in the road, tossed over cars, melted lamp posts, and above them, two massive swords hanging in the air. Hide knew in her soul she has never witnessed anything like this before. 

Mikoto stood, basked in heat. Tendrils of red flames whips off his shoulders. He was breathing a little harder. Smoke and dust make itself comfortable in his nose. As far as he was concerned, the rest of the world around him could be obliterated and he wouldn’t notice. His focus was only on the man in front of him.

Hide was off to the side, unsure how to proceed. Anna had warned her not to interrupt while Mikoto was fighting. She went on without her. She was worried there was something wrong with her baby. She needed him. 

Mikoto’s attention was to his opponent. The man was tall like him. He had dark blue hair and a blue uniform similar to the boy Yata referred to as Monkey. He wore glasses and had a long sword drawn out. His gaze was set on Mikoto. 

Tentatively, Hide began to approach. Slow, cautioned steps. “Mikoto?” Her voice was almost as soft as Anna’s. As she got closer she could feel the lingering heat. She didn’t know if she should touch him. “Mikoto?” Hide asked a little louder. Hesitantly she reached her fingers out and settled for taking the sleeve of his jacket and giving it a small tug. 

The contact dissipated the tension and brought the two back to reality. Mikoto’s face returned to his normal grump look. He turned his head and looked down at her. Hide gave another gentle tug. 

With a grumble, the darker of the two swords began to disintegrate in a red cloud before vanishing all together. Hide watched wide eyed. 

“We’ll have to continue this later.” He addressed the man in blue. 

The other man didn’t respond. He sheathed his sword and the other giant one in the sky also began to vanish. 

Mikoto slid one hand into his pant pocket and left the other for Hide to hold on to. He turned away from his battle. Hide glance back as Mikoto lead her away. The other man was watching them with eyes fixed on every detail. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really excited how much attention this story has gotten. When I started this story I wasn’t sure how far or where the story would go. But there’s so many K fans on this site and I want to say Thank you to everyone whose read my story, left a comment and/or a kudos. You’ve helped motivate me to continue. :-)


	10. Quickening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit to the doctor clears some things up.

Yata’s leg had not stopped bouncing from the moment he sat down and Eric was tempted to kick his knee out. Yata, Eric, Kōsuke, Rikio, Anna, and Mikoto were all sitting around the clinic waiting room. Tatara was back with Hide. Izumo was back at the bar after Mikoto told him he’d handle it. And the rest of the guys occupied themselves elsewhere. 

At the moment it was just them in the waiting room. The boys had either their phones or the stack of mommy magazines to entertain them. The magazines weren’t touched. Mikoto was spread out on a two seater bench, appearing to be napping. 

“What’s taking so long?” Rikio asked to no one in particular.

“You don’t think there’s actually something wrong with her?” Yata’s leg was vibrating. 

Kōsuke reached over and pressed his hand against the vanguard’s knee. “You’re shaking the chairs.” 

Anna sat next to Mikoto, looking at his red. She was happy he chose to stop fighting. She knew that he cared. 

Tatara came out of the back calm and smiling. Everyone, except Mikoto, sat up straighter as he came over. 

“What’s going on?” Yata asked. 

“She’s just getting cleaned up.” Tatara stuck his thumb behind him.

“What did the doctor say?” Kōsuke asked. 

“Nothing to worry about. What she was feeling was I guess first movements. The doctor says the early movements can be varied and hard to recognized. Its common for new moms to be confused by them.” Tatara explained. 

Yata let out a relieved sigh. Mikoto opened his eyes. He stood up and lumbered out the door. The rest of the boys began to follow suit as Hide emerged from the back. 

“Hide, can you come sit here for a moment?” Tatara asked. 

She took a seat next to Anna. He knelt down to their level in front of them. 

“Anna already knows this, but when the clan is fighting, we’re not allowed to be there. Normally I’m there with you to make sure you two are safe. I’m sorry I was elsewhere and I promise next time not to.” 

Anna looked down at the ground. 

“You know you could have gotten really hurt out there. The battles can get intense. From now on I want you to stay out harms way.” His tone was gentle. 

“Okay.” Anna agreed. 

“Hide?” 

She let out a sigh, “No more leaving without telling. Don’t like it.” 

“That’s fair.” He nodded as he stood. “Let’s go home.” 

~ 

Fighting- displaying or engaging in combat, violence, or aggression. That was the start of the rabbit hole. Then she clicked on the word violence and tumbled down. Hide just wanted a simple definition. Instead she was down a scary internet hole that kept going on and on. She didn’t like what she found but she couldn’t stop. 

Kōsuke came up to check on her, see if she needed anything. He saw the tablet screen. It took a split second for it to register. He snatched it out of her hands. Hide was unaware of his presence up until then, so she jumped. He shut it off and placed it carelessly on the table. 

“You shouldn’t be looking at that stuff. It’s gonna give you nightmares.” Kōsuke slide on the seat next to her. 

Hide looked down as se absently rubbed her belly. “Wanted to know what fighting meant.” 

He reached to comfort her. “Hide that, that’s not what we do. With Scepter 4, that’s not the sort of fighting that we do.

“There’s.... things that we can do, that other people can’t. It’s, kinda hard to explain. Mikoto is what we call a King, and he has this, power. And he’s given his power to some of us. We’re what’s called a Clan. Scepter 4, the blue guys, they’re in another clan. And sometimes there’s disagreements between us and them, and sometimes we fight. But they have their own powers. We’re evenly matched so we don’t really get hurt. We don’t try to hurt them.” 

Kōsuke let out a breath. He tried his best to explain as simply as he could, but worried she wasn’t fully understanding. He squeezed her shoulder and Hide leaned closer, “Look, I promise, we don’t do the bad stuff you looked at just now. And we’re never going to let anything bad happen to you. The blue’s have powers to fight back, but you don’t so you could get seriously hurt by accident.” 

“So stay here. With Anna.” Hide summarized quietly. 

“And Tatara. He’ll be with you when we go met with the blues in the future. Okay?” 

“Okay.” She rested her head on his shoulder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how many chapters this will be, I just decide where the chapter ends when I feel it. Thanks for all the love and comments! 
> 
> Also quickening is the term for the first movements of the fetus *funfact.


	11. Glimpses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some glimpses at the lives of Homra (specifically shopping)

_ The room was barely the size of a closet. A mat and a bucket and a window of opaque plastic with a light behind it. She had been alone for most of her life, but she had never been as lonely as she was in that room. She didn’t know how long she had been there. The only concept of time passing was meals.  _

_ There was a guy who brought her meals. The only person she talked to outside of the testing. The only one who still treated her like a person. He said he was 23, but his face was aged past his years. Not so much physically, but in the eyes. The weight of this place, what it did to them, it robbed your mind. And when things got worse he was the only source she could turn to for comfort.  _

_ The testing was bad, but it was the isolation in that tiny room that drove her crazy. The fact she couldn’t escape those cold grey walls made her want to scream and tear off her skin and beat her head through that false window. The first couple of times when she did break down, they came in and sedated her. She hated it, but accepted it. That tiny room where she waited. Waited to see if they were finally going to kill her.  _

_ He came at meal time. He wasn’t supposed to come into the room with her, but he did it anyways. Even though there wasn’t room for another person. He had blond hairand long fingers. He would sit next to her. He talked while she ate and try to make her smile. She jumped the first time he wrapped his hand around hers. The next time he came, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She broke into tears. It had been so long since anyone had held her.  _

_ A few moments of comfort in a place so harsh. They knew if they were ever caught together, it would be punishment. It would be harsher to him, since he was breaking the rules. She’d never see him again. However she was so starved for human contact it was worth the risk. Even just watching his elongated fingers tracing invisible swirls in her skin gave her life.  _

Anna inhaled as she came to. Her room and the street outside her window were all dark. Despite not having a clock in sight she knew it was incredibly late. She turned and gazed over to the second bed opposite to her. Among the pillows and blankets was the lump that was Hide. Lately she had been gathering more pillows to try and make falling asleep more comfortable. She had moved in from the first day, Anna insisted on it. After they found out about the baby, Tatara tried to convince them to have separate rooms, but both girls said no. He’d probably bring it up again, as they get closer to the baby being born. 

Anna slid her covers back. The floor was chilled. Her feet pattered quietly across the hardwood. She opened the door without waking her roommate. Anna ran her hand along the wall to help guide her. Just to make sure she didn’t trip. 

Mikoto’s light was on. Sometimes he had odd hours during his sleep patterns. Tonight he was sitting on the two seater couch, smoking. His head was back against the cushion. He opened his eyes when he heard the door open. He lifted his head, “Something wrong?” 

“I had a dream.” Anna leaned against the door. “About Hide. Before.” 

“Before what?” 

“Before her memories got wiped.” Anna crawled onto the cushion. 

Mikoto made room for her. He put his cigarette out in the ashtray on the side table. Anna watched him make the motion. When he settled back again he ask her to elaborate. 

“She had to stay in a small room. Just a bed and a bucket. She always felt trapped, and it made her crazy.” 

“Did you see anything else?” 

Anna softly opened her palm and looked at the red marble nestled in her hand. “There was a boy. He would bring her food. He would sit with her even though it was against the rules. I only saw pieces of his face.” 

Mikoto glanced at the marble from the corner of his eye, “Do you think you can find him?” 

“Maybe. I don’t know for sure.” 

He grunted. Anna closed her hand. She scooted closer and rested her head against his torso. She let her eyes close. Mikoto watched the small form curled to his side while he made silent speculations.

~

Hide loved going to grocery store and markets. She liked wandering down aisle and looking at all of the items in their colorful packaging. Pushing the cart and the wheels making a steady sort of hum. And picking out a tasty treat. Izumo order most of his supplies online in bulk and hand them shipped directly, but he would indulge her in a once a week shopping trip. Her appetite was growing and ever changing. Sweet, sour, spicy, fruity, meaty. It was a revolving door, sometimes day to day. 

Hide leaned against the cart as she pushed it. Middle of the week was the best time to go as it wasn’t super busy. Even so, people made sure to stay out of her way. Izumo followed behind at a leisurely pace. She only had a couple of things, and was pretty good about not getting too much. At Tatara’s request he made sure she got some healthy food to match the junk snacks. 

“Alright, thats good enough. I need to get back to the bar to open.” Kusanagi checked his watch. 

“O-kay.” Hide sang as she redirected the cart to the checkout lanes. A energetic girl with red-dyed hair had an open lane. Hide put her munchies on the conveyer-belt while Izumo pulled out his wallet at the pin pad machine. She went to the end to receive her bags. She usually didn’t interact with the cash register person. 

“Do you know what your having?” The clerk suddenly directed to Hide. 

Kusanagi took the liberty on answering, “Decided to wait.”

She continued, “You know my sister had a baby, and she ate a lot of Mango.” 

Hide gave her a bewildered look, why was this woman talking to her? 

“That so?” Izumo took his card back and grabbed two of the bags. “Take care.” 

As they moved out the door, Hide asked, “Why did she talk at me?” 

“She was making conversation. People tend to do that around pregnant women.” 

“Why?” 

He shrugged, “I don’t know. Some people will give advice even when they weren’t asked.” 

~*~

“Why is a baby bed 8,323.96 yen?” Bandō loudly exclaimed.

“It’s called a crib.” Dewa clarified. 

“Whatever you call it, that’s way too fucking expensive.” 

Kōsuke smacked him, “Don’t say ‘fucking’ in the baby store, you’re gonna get us kicked out.” 

“Tatara,” Yata groaned, wishing he could disappear off the spot, “can we go? People are starring.” 

Tatara, oblivious to his friend’s discomfort, was checking out strollers. “I’ve been thinking, and we should throw Hide a baby shower.” 

“What’s that?” Akagi picked up a green and purple zebra. 

“It’s a party. You play baby related games and the guests give the mom to be thing she’ll need for her baby.” 

“Dude we do that already. Hide doesn’t have any money.” 

“Well, it also celebrates the mom to be. Growning a baby takes a lot of work.” 

Bandō gave an exasperated look, “She’s been pregnant the entire time we’ve know her, she literally doesn’t know what it’s like not being preggers.” 

A saleswoman finally walked up, “Do you boy need some help?” 

Tatara smiled brightly at her, “Hi, do you ave an car seat stroller convertibles?” 

Dewa looked at him, “You don’t have a car.” 

“Yes but the versatility will come in handy, and if we travel the baby will be secure.” 

The sound of rubber repetitively hitting the floor got they attention as Chitose came bouncing on a red yoga ball, “Guys, we should get like 8 of these!” 

Kōsuke facepalmed while Bandō encouraged, “We should do races.”

“Exactly!” 

“Guys, no.” Dewa protested. “We’re looking for stuff for Hide.” 

Chitose continued to bounce, “So everything we get is for her?” 

“Yes idiot, it’s a store, made for pregnant people and babies!” 

Kōsuke snapped, “Alright knock it off. Yō, stop messing around and go put that back before you break something. And stop yelling, you’re gonna scare the other customers.” 

The saleswoman looked concerned, “uh, are you shopping for a girlfriend?” 

“Just a friend of ours. Sorry, my friends are new to this sort of stuff.” 

Eric walked up, “Do you have any boy clothes that aren’t boring, or blue?” 

“How about red? You got baby clothes in red?” Akagi chimed in. 

From two aisle over they heard a crash, followed by a loud “Shit. My bad.” And “Goddamn it Yō!” 

“I can’t believe you got banned from the baby store.” Dewa teased as they waited outside for Tatara and Kōsuke to finish paying. 

“Yeah, I thought it would have been Yata for sure.” Bandō smirked. 

“Fuck you.” Yata snorted. 

Tatara and Kōsuke came out, the latter gave them a disappointed look. “You done embarrassing yourselves?” 

Tatara shifted his bag to his opposite hand, “Hey they didn’t break anything.” 

“But that doesn’t change the fact he’s still a knucklehead.” Eric reminded as they gathered up to head back to Homra. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am in love with the image of these clueless, teenage boys trying to navigated baby stuff. Also thanks for patiently waiting for a new chapter.


End file.
